Thermaltake Jing CPU Cooler Review

Introduction:

It seems that every day I get on the Internet, I am pelted with advertisements for CPU cooling hardware and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of innovation and new features that go into these things year after year. The fact that something with only one main goal, keeping your processor cool, can remain in a market and stay fresh surely says something about the companies behind them. The market for these heatsinks and other cooling devices has absolutely exploded over the past five years and the expansion rate certainly has not slowed down. More people every year are becoming more tech-savvy, and those certain folks have the general understanding that a cooler processor will last longer and remain healthy throughout its life. These users want the best for their expensive hardware, so they all turn to the big names to protect their silicon gems. Thermaltake is one of the manufacturers that has been in the game since even before this explosion, and has continued to adapt and improve its products over the years to meet the needs of the huge market that exists today.

Today, in the spotlight of this review is the Thermaltake Jing CPU cooler. This newly released heatsink from Thermaltake utilizes a push/pull design with nearly silent fans, vibration dampening, a large list of socket compatibility, a copper base, and a fully nickel-plated body. All of this in conjunction with a mirror-smooth base and five 6mm heatpipes should amount to a well-done heatsink unit. Since its release, it has received high ratings and good feedback, and I am looking forward to working with it. I'm not terribly concerned with sound, but I feel that if a quieter product can produce the same results as a louder one — that's certainly worth noting. In this review, I will provide a complete evaluation of the Thermaltake Jing from un-boxing, up-close features, specifications, and most importantly a stress test on some of the latest hardware to see how well it can handle the heat (pun indented). Let's move on.

Closer Look:

The Thermaltake Jing is packaged in a white, elegant looking box with the Thermaltake logo in the upper left corner. Covering the box are light green accents, giving a feel of "nature" to the product. The front cover lists that it is capable of cooling 200W of heat, along with the text "Silent by design." One of the icons at the bottom states that the cooler operates at an inaudible 16dBA, which is for most people, silent. The left side of the box has a list of specifications, mainly in tabular form, naming the Jing's compatibility, dimensions, weight, fan speed, and other values. The rear of the box has some pictures of the Jing in action, explaining some of its features and advantages along with some bullets going into some more detail. The right side of the box lists some of these features in different languages.

After getting into the box, the first thing that I noticed is the box that holds the hardware — internally it is molded to organize every screw, nut, spacer, etc. This is a neat way to present everything, but most likely this box wouldn't be used again by the owner. Included in this box is everything you need to mount the Jing to the motherboard, including the back plate, mounting bars, nuts, spacers, and screws. Thermaltake includes a tube of its thermal paste in this box as well.

The green color on the heatsink is different and is unique compared to all of the other plain silver/black that we see everywhere else. The grey plastic on the cooler reminds me of the old school beige color that used to be everywhere, so I think Thermaltake could have chosen a different color. Alas, with the Jing out of the box, it's time to get a closer look at the cooler itself.